


Dance Like Nobody's Watching

by Ikea_Tello



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: DDR is a pretty good game, Don and April hanging out, Dorky Pals for Life Club, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29540262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikea_Tello/pseuds/Ikea_Tello
Summary: After a few months of working on this (and mainly procrastinating), I've finally finished this! Hope you enjoy!!
Kudos: 27





	Dance Like Nobody's Watching

**Author's Note:**

> After a few months of working on this (and mainly procrastinating), I've finally finished this! Hope you enjoy!!

April counted down the hours of her shift, glancing at the clock every now and then. She had plans this afternoon, ones that would be way more interesting than standing behind the register and ringing up customers every twenty minutes.

She liked this job, way better than the previous ones she had. She was lucky enough to keep this job for a while too; most of her jobs that she had usually lasted about a week before she got fired. Half the time she didn't even know why she was fired, but it didn't faze her anymore.

She glanced up at the clock again. She had about five minutes left until freedom. She counted down the seconds on the clock and rushed to the back room, clocking out her shift. She then ran into the bathroom and changed into her usual attire, grabbing her bag and walking out the building.

April was like any normal teenage girl. She had a job, went to school, and had friends just like any other teenage kid.

Now her friends on the other hand… they weren't "normal" people.

She walked down the sidewalk and into an alleyway, waving at her purple friend. 

"What took you so long?" He squints, taking his hood off to reveal his purple mask and green skin.

Yeah, he was a turtle. Some might say that's not exactly a normal teenage friend to have, but April didn't care. To say if she was normal though, that was debatable.

"Donnie, my job is only seven minutes away from this street. It didn't take me that long." She rolls her eyes and grins.

"Took you long enough." He scoffs, earning a light punch in the shoulder as he walks through the dark space of the buildings, putting his hood back on as they walk out of the alley.

"So, where exactly are we heading?" April asked, looking up at her turtle friend. "I couldn't exactly read your text since I was rushing off to work this morning."

"There's this new game at the arcade." Donnie answers, earning a hum from her. "Well not exactly _new_ , it's a pretty old game. But they just got an unused version of it this week, which is pretty hard to find."

"What's the game called?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." He grins before sighing. "Which is exactly what I texted you!"

"I said I couldn't read it." She scoffs before smiling. "But I bet it's something awesome."

"Oh it is, fair April. This game is the most; if not best, game in history." He smirks, his eyes shimmering.

"I want to say you're excited, but your voice sounds like you're speaking in sarcasm. It's hard to tell most of the time." This time she was the one to get punched (lightly of course) in the shoulder as she snickered, quickening her pace as Donnie stuck his tongue out at her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the soft tapping of keys coming from the turtle's cellphone.

"So, what's the others up to?" April asks, readjusting her glasses.

Donnie looks up at the question and sighs. "Michael had wanted to show Raph the puppies at Todd's. Why; I have no clue." He huffs. "They left unannounced and Leon was too busy 'perfecting his portal skills' to care where I was going." He finishes his statement with air quotes.

April nodded. The guys had their own plans, she understood. It was nice to be out with her purple pal.

They approached the arcade and the purple clad turtle put his phone away, starting to take the lead. 

"I'm telling you April, this is gonna make you scream from how exciting this game is." Donnie's natural smirk was displayed on his face. He walked into the building, ignoring April's soft chuckles. "This game has been around for _years_ , and it's just been given better software for it to run faster. _I_ could've done it in months but whatever-"

She laughs softly. Of course Donnie had to brag about his excellent tech skills.

No one seemed to be in the arcade today, but that made it easier for Donnie to act as he pleased. He took off his jacket and kept walking.

As they got closer to this so-called revelation of a game, April could see why the softshell had talked so much about it.

"This will be a game hard to master; especially with its new upgrades." Donnie grins. "Only a few are brave enough to go hard mode. It's a game of concentration, a game of-"

"Dance Dance Revolution isn't _that_ complex Donnie." April raises an eyebrow and snickers.

"April, I would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt my well thought out speeches." The softshell huffs, smiling as he receives laughter from his pal. "But yes, behold! The iconic game known as Dance Dance Revolution; DDR. Jazz hands!" 

The girl hummed, tilting her head as metal arms came out of Don's battle shell. "Oh no. Donnie I thought you said this game was updated already-"

"It is. Not to my liking though." He kneeled down and started rewiring the game from the back.

April groaned. "Donnie we talked about this!"

"It'll only take five minutes."

"Donnie!"

"Ok ok! Three, tops."

She sighs, looking around to make sure no one was coming. Sure enough, the arcade was still empty. She hummed, looking back at Donnie who had just finished his rewiring.

"And done." He smiles, the metal arms already retracting back into his homemade shell. "Now this game should run faster than ever before."

April couldn't help but smile. Donnie was amazing at coding, and if this helped the game run faster then so be it. 

She wouldn't tell him though. That'd boost his ego.

Donnie started setting up the game, gesturing for April to stand beside him. He picked a song and tapped hard mode, earning a glance from his human friend.

"What are you doing?" She said with an eyebrow raise.

Donnie just shrugged. "Setting up the game."

"On _hard_ mode? I've barely played this game before Dee!"

"Who's fault is that?"

She blinked, watching Donnie's face slowly smirk. 

"I come to win my dear friend."

She grinned, looking at the screen. "Oh you're on."

As the music started up, light tapping of the turtle's feet could be heard before they both started dancing. Since this was hard mode, the speed of the song was fast. April wasn't ready for it, and about a minute or two in, she was starting to feel tired. She looked over at Donnie, tilting her head slightly. He seemed fine; a bit of sweat on his forehead but other than that he was still going strong.

Of course he was, he danced all the time. This was a piece of cake for him.

She shook her head, focusing on her feet and the beat of the music. She was close to reaching his score, give or take a few thousand points.

Donnie kept his lead though, and by the end of the song they were both panting. April had brought bottled water for them both in her bag, taking them out and hanging one to Don.

"How are you not tired?" She asked after sipping her water.

"Lots…. Of practice April..." Donnie replied between breaths, laying down beside the machine. "I need a break-"

"Yeah, lots of practice all right. You have a DDR system at home." She laughs softly, sitting beside him. "How hard do you dance on that thing?"

He looks over at her and sighs. "I once broke it from stomping too hard on one of my favorite songs. I thought I had programmed it to not break so easily that week, but I mistaken it for my daily rewiring sessions." He then smiles. "So I did what any noble turtle would do; I blamed it on Leo when they all found out. They still think he did it."

April snickered. "You are so mean."

"I'm not mean. Just smart." He sits up and looks back at the game before taking a sip of his water. "We can play another round. We'll play on medium mode so you can have a chance, and so I can catch my breath." He mumbled the last part to himself, standing up and picking another song.

April nods, smiling as she gets back up on the game system. Once Donnie sets up the mode and the music, they both take a deep breath and start dancing again.

Since Donnie was still a bit tired from the last round, his human pal was quickly gaining up on him. In the last few seconds of the song, she had gained twenty more points, keeping her lead and winning.

Donnie huffed, wiping his head. "Beginner's luck."

She snickered, patting his shoulder. "Relax Dee, you were tired. Of course I was gonna win."

"Or I let you win." He smiles. "Either way, I guess you deserved it."

She laughs, drinking her water again. "Thanks." She looked at her phone. "It's getting late. Should we head back to-"

Donnie's phone then started to buzz as he groaned, taking it out his jacket pocket and answering. "Yes Leo?"

"Hey Donnie, so I somehow portaled myself two cities over, any chance you can swing by and get me?"

"Sigh… What's the name of the city you're in?"

"Uhhhh-"

"I'll see what I can do Leon." He hung up and tapped something into his phone. "How did he get over there?!" He rubs his head.

"What happened?" April tilts her head, putting her school bag back on.

"Leo portaled himself straight out of New York, which at this point I wouldn't be surprised." He shakes his head. "We can get him in the Turtle Tank later. There's a pizza place right down the road from here."

April laughs softly. "You put pizza in front of your brother?"

"Not in serious situations. Leo just has portal problems every month, and yet he still can't portal us to Tahiti. But he'll be fine, he always is." Donnie shrugs, putting his jacket back on and heading towards the exit. "Plus the pizza is pretty good."

She smiles, following Donnie out. He was right, her purple friend would complain about the numerous amount of times Leo would be anywhere but home when using his sword. The slider was lucky if he portaled to a place where he liked.

As she followed the softshell out the arcade, her smile widened. It was a pretty fun day. Sure, she still had homework, her home, and her workplace to worry about which would bring her back into the reality of her life, but she didn't need to worry about that right now. Hanging out with her pal and having another moment as the Dorky Pals for Life Club was something to smile about.

Picking up Leo was also on the list of things to do, but he could last a few more minutes in… wherever he was.

If not, they'd get a phone call. But that was for future Donnie and April to worry about.


End file.
